The Last Story: Differing Worlds
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: Post-game and post-anime AU. Tiger and Bunny are still somewhat doing their work as heroes still, tracking down who they believe might be part of a newly resurrected Ouroboros. Bad news: They fall into a portal and straight into some other world that they don't know. Worse news: Said world they're stuck in is dealing with some people out for revenge and there's no way out of it...
1. Chapter 1

**Author note: I do not own The Last Story or Tiger & Bunny.**

 **WARNING: Takes place post-game and post-anime so possible spoilers for the anime and game, established KotetsuxBarnaby, Lyrenne, Zaelista, violence, cursing, possible other warnings in the future.**

 **Constructive Criticism would be great, so I hope that you read, review and enjoy! XDDD**

* * *

 _ **The Last Story: Differing Worlds**_

* * *

 _Chapter 1: Arena Capture_

"He went this way!"

The Wild Tiger grunted, trying to catch up with Bunny. Even though Kotetsu was supposed to be fighting alongside the Second League members now that his powers were diminished, the two still insisted at times to work together as a pair—not just because of the publicity it brought, but mainly due to being together now. It was a secret from the public that Kotetsu and Barnaby had finally gotten together romantically, something that the other First League heroes had secretly guessed starting a little while after The Wild Tiger and 'Bunny' were paired up as a team.

The only thing that sucked now about working together was the constant need to look after each other. Kotetsu was far more than aware that said powers he had were diminished and therefore he might be slowing him down, but he was trying his hardest, too.

Plus, he _really_ didn't want his darling daughter Kaede to think that he was that lame of a dad that he was only with Second League heroes most of the time.

Said criminal they were chasing was rumoured to be part of a newly resurrected Ouroboros. And if that was true, that didn't mean anything good.

 _"Wait!"_ Agnes was heard screeching into his ear via earbud in his hero suit helmet. _"Don't go into that portal!"_

Kotetsu frowned. "Hey, wait a sec," He muttered, forgetting to even slow down as he kept moving. "The criminal just went through there—how else are we supposed to catch the guy if we can't follow him?"

He could hear Bunny almost growl as he spoke up. "We can't just go into there without any caution. It could be a—"

That was when a fateful moment sprung—in the form of Kotetsu tripping.

Because he'd been rushing as fast as he could to keep up with Barnaby and the criminal, he didn't just fall flat on his face. Nope. Instead, he ran straight into his partner, tripping Barnaby himself, and the two screamed in panic as they dipped headfirst into the portal...

* * *

The first thing Kotetsu knew was that he felt solid ground, and he could more than easily hear Barnaby's pained groan through...background cheering of other people? What?

He quickly sat up, nudging his partner quickly. "Hey, Bunny? You okay?"

Barnaby nodded, the two quickly getting on their feet. "Yeah, I'm okay. You?"

Kotetsu chuckled sheepishly. "Eh, could be better. Sorry about that, partner."

"Lowell, stick with me! I think it's one of those people from _that_ Gurak faction!" Another male's voice suddenly rang out from behind them. "Mirania, Yurick, check those two out. I've got no idea who they are, but I really don't want to think that they're with that Gurak faction."

"Okay!" Two others responded.

"What?" Barnaby and Kotetsu turned to see none other than a young woman and a guy slightly younger than her rushing over to them. The guy had an eyepatch, while the girl had a white flower in her black hair.

"Uh..." Kotetsu blinked, gazing at them awkwardly. "Who are you?"

The young eyepatch person frowned, crossing his arms. "I'd ask you the same thing."

The young woman sighed, shaking her head. "Yurick, this isn't time to be answering questions with questions." She looked to Kotetsu and Barnaby. "Are you alright?"

Barnaby nodded. "Yeah, we're fine. Where are we, exactly?"

Yurick seemed to huff a bit. "We're in the Arena. Apparently there have been some guys from a Gurak faction that's hell bent on going through with the late Zangurak's plans to conquer Lazulis that are lurking around here. Please don't tell me you're both two of those guys."

"Um...what?" Kotetsu managed. Gurak? Zangurak? Lazulis? Arena? _None_ of it made sense to him, or Barnaby as far as he could guess from looking to his partner. "Bunny? Any idea what to do?"

Barnaby paused, looking to where the other two (Kotetsu guessed those two were Zael and Lowell) went, and then to Yurick and Mirania. "How about you explain this to us later and we'll help you out? Will that prove that we're not the enemy?"

Mirania nodded. "Sure. That'll be great!" She was about to rush off to help Lowell and Zael when she felt her stomach rumble. She giggled on instinct. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm very hungry..."

Yurick groaned, grabbing Mirania by the wrist and dragging her away. "I'll get you a snack after we're done, promise!"

Kotetsu looked to Yurick and Mirania rushing off to join their friends, and then to Barnaby.

"We should go help them."

Barnaby looked like he wanted to slap his own forehead. "Yeah, old man. That's what I just talked about moments ago!"

Only a heartbeat later, the two were catching up to the four, also finding the criminal.

The bad news as that said criminal was an archer and also got backup, and there was one of the pack that happened to be a commando of sorts leading them. Which meant that things would be slightly more complicated than they hoped for.

"Lowell, use your Beserker ability now!" Zael was heard shouting as a man with blond hair shorter than Barnaby's immediately gained a gold-coloured glow.

Kotetsu tried to observe their new allies well as he knocked out one soldier with a straight punch to the face. _They have powers also? Maybe they're NEXT?_

"Behind you!"

He was tackled down by none other than Zael, his blue eyes gazing straight at him. "Hey, you okay?"

Kotetsu nodded, getting up. "Yup, I'm fine. This old man isn't going down yet!" He quickly helped Zael up, just as one of the last few Gurak remaining aimed their crossbow at them...

Zael noticed in a heartbeat, some sort of blue glow coming from his right hand as he took out crossbow, shooitng that Gurak in the head and taking him down swiftly.

The crowd watching in the Arena began to cheer. _"Team Zael! Team Zael! Team Zael!"_

Zael chuckled sheepishly, looking to Kotetsu. "Uh, thanks for the help." he managed, holding out a hand.

Kotetsu grinned, shaking his hand. "You're welcome...uh..." He blinked. "Er...your name is Zael, I'm guessing?"

Zael nodded, grinning awkwardly. "Yeah, that's me. I'm Zael. You?"

"Kotetsu. Though I go by the Wild Tiger when in my power suit."

Zael stared. "Wait, power suit?"

"Uhh..."

"Agnes?" Kotetsu turned to see Barnaby trying to connect to Agnes. "Agnes? Can you hear me?" Barnaby looked to Kotetsu. "Kotetsu, can you try talking to Agnes? I can't seem to connect to her."

"Uh, yeah." He quickly tried to do so. "Agnes? It's me, Wild Tiger. We took down the criminal. Turns out he had..."

He stopped midsentence as he realized that the other end was static.

"Agnes...?"

No response.

He groaned, turning it off and looking to his partner. "Bunny, I can't connect to her either."

That was when Lowell spoke up. "Uh, no idea where you guys came from, but...the hole that you came from? It disappeared just now."

Barnaby and Kotetsu slowly looked to each other, one thought in their mind.

 _Oh shit._


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: Regroup_

Barnaby and Kotetsu, as well as Zael and the others quickly rushed back to Lazulis Castle, trying their best to explain what the heck was going on with each other. Kotetsu and Barnaby now knew for sure that they were definitely not at Stern Bild, definitely not on Hero TV and _definitely not even in their own world at all._

They were in a place called Lazulis, where Hero TV didn't exist, and where the concept of 'NEXT' didn't really exist, either. And technology here in Lazulis wasn't so well developed.

So that kind of sucked for both the Wild Tiger and Barnaby Brooks Jr.

After everyone sat down at Lazulis Castle, got out of their fighting gear and gave their explanations about what the heck was going on (Barnaby and Kotetsu ending up spilling EVERYTHING that happened involving Hero TV and stuff, as well as Maverick's manipulation and then jumping to chasing the possible Ouroborous affiliate while Zael and friends explained about the war between the Gurak and Lazulis and how that all ended), everyone seemed to be somewhat satisfied with explanations...except one thing.

Kotetsu blinked. "Come again?" He managed. "You're telling me and Bunny that the guy we all caught together _isn't_ some guy from Ouroborous?"

Zael shook his head. "No," He responded, "It's not. But..the weird thing is, he's definitely one of the soldiers affiliated with that rebellious Gurak faction. They split from the Gurak Continent's main army with plans to follow Zangurak and ultimately take revenge against me for killing their past king." He winced at that. "I guess the peace treaty wasn't enough for them..."

"So they're just going to go and try to take over Lazulis?"

Zael nodded. "Yeah. What's even worse is that apparently there are rumours going about that Zangurak has somehow..resurrected to lead them." He shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. A dead person can't come back to life. If too many people heard of these rumours, everyone would get in a panic. Calista and I have been trying to keep it down."

A silver haired young woman (Calista, Zael's wife and Countess of Lazulis) sighed, shaking her head. "First it's the war between the Gurak Continent and Lazulis, and now this." She frowned. "I just wonder why we can't have peace for once."

"We did have enough peace to rebuild Lazulis after the war though." Yurick reminded her softly, adjusting his eyepatch. The fire mage looked to Barnaby and Kotetsu with his good eye before speaking up again. "At least we know you're not enemies, so I guess you can stay here until you find a way home."

"Thanks," Barnaby responded. He pushed up his glasses, looking to Kotetsu and then to the others. "We tried to call everyone we knew, but none of them can answer. Considering that technology here is different than where Kotetsu and I come from, I guess trying to communicate is impossible. So we'll need a way back. Do those portals show up often?"

Mirania shook her head, munching on a muffin. "I don't recall reading about them before," she admitted, taking another bite of her muffing and swallowing. "But I can definitely try to see if there is anything that transports you both back to your own world, if you'd like."

"That would be great!" Kotetsu managed a grin, but couldn't help but think of Kaede. How would his daughter react to hear that her father went missing? Definitely not a good reaction for sure. He just hoped that she was okay. "Hey, and I guess I can help out with it, too. Two people are better than one, right?"

"I can also help out." Barnaby reminded Kotetsu, giving him a look. "Besides, being the old man between us you'll probably make the search more difficult."

"Hey!"

Lowell and Syrenne (a ginger-haired young lady who was married to Lowell and already expecting their first child, much to both Heroes' surprise) both looked amused, both of them laughing. Both men blushed, looking to them quietly.

"So, uhh..." Kotetsu felt awkward. How to break the ice here...? If he was going to be stuck here, might as well get to know the people he was sticking with, right? "So, you two are expecting your first kid. How is that feeling?"

Lowell grinned, trying to cuddle up to Syrenne, who blushed and tried to pry him off her. "It's wonderful! I honestly can't wait. Though we've yet to find out if it's a he or she..."

Syrenne looked to him, a smirk on her face. "Should I remind you that you were th' one who fainted at the news?"

Lowell had his turn to blush. "Uh, well, yeah..."

Calista blushed, looking to Syrenne and then to the Heroes. "Syrenne and I were in the middle of planning the baby shower when you all arrived, so...sorry about the mess." She managed.

Barnaby looked around (noticing the small, organized but still-messy piles of decorations that were obviously meant for baby showers), before grinning, pretending not to notice. "It's okay. Kotetsu and I were the ones who barged in, anyway."

* * *

"Heard anything from Kaede?"

"Nope. What about Saito?"

"I can't get anything from him. Have you tried Nathan yet?"

"I'm on it." Kotetsu quickly tried, but then that failed too. He groaned, sitting on the bed in the guest room they shared (after explaining to Calista and Zael that he and Bunny were romantically involved so it was fine). "Nope. He's not picking up either." He looked up to Barnaby, frowning. "So, I guess the theory you had earlier about the being-in-different-worlds thing is true. We can't contact them from here because of the differences in technology."

Barnaby nodded. "Yeah." A sigh escaped him, looking to the nearby window that overlooked the courtyard of the Castle. "I think the best chance of us finding a way home is helping out Calista and Zael with their problem with the Gurak army faction. The sooner we get that fixed up, the sooner we'll have more time for them to help us find a way back..."

That was when the two heard a _thump._

Both Heroes looked to each other, then to the door.

"Was that from outside?" Kotetsu went to the door, opening it. His eyes widened. "What the..."

"What is it?" Barnaby asked softly. He went over to the door, peering out and immediately understood what happened.

A male figure, wavy blond hair block the view of his face, groaned as he leaned against the wall, panting a bit. His clothing was disheveled, his whole being trembling as he weakly attempted to stand up straight.

"Hey! You okay!?" The two rushed to the man, who stumbled forwards. Had it not been for Barnaby catching him he would have hit the ground. Barnaby looked to Kotetsu, shaking his head.

"He's out cold already. We have to get help!"

* * *

They managed to rush the man to the hospital wing quickly, alerting the attention of Calista and the others. After getting a good look at the patient (after getting him into a room in the hospital wing of course), Calista looked to the Heroes, visibly distressed.

"This should be impossible." She uttered, looking to the figure on the bed and then to Barnaby and Kotetsu. "This is my uncle...he should be dead! What is he doing here?"

"Wait, wait—" Kotetsu looked to the man lying in bed, then to Calista. "That's your uncle? He looks really shaken up."

"I-I know." She sighed. "Remember how I told you that my uncle died during the war? His whole body disintegrated when he tried to activate the Outsider to make it use the Lazulis Cannon to attack the Gurak...so it shouldn't even be possible for him to a physical form. But now he's here. It makes no sense."

A soft breath escaped their patient's throat, and the three turned to see that Calista's uncle was awake. His good eye was half-lidded at first, his body shifting slightly underneath the blanket as he turned his head to look at them.

"C-Calist...a...?"

"Uncle!" Calista rushed to his bedside, sitting by the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Weak," Arganan managed as she helped him sit up. "What happened?"

"You..." She bit her lower lip. "You died. But now you're alive again. Do you remember anything?"

Arganan shook his head, confusion lacing his expression. "No. No a thing. Everything..." he closed his good eye briefly, before opening it. "It's a blur."

Calista nodded slowly. "The Gurak attacked. We went to the Turret Control Room to activate the Lazulis Cannon, but it wasn't working. We found a hidden entrance to get deeper into the depths of the castle, giving us the opportunity to get to the Lazulis half of the Outsider to activate it directly."

Arganan appeared to be remembering, judging by the furrowed eyebrow. Both Barnaby and Kotetsu stayed silent, watching, and Zael walked in only for both of them to shush him, signal him that what was going on was important and required concentration. "I think I'm starting to remember. I took out my sword and started slashing at it." He shivered slightly, his expression starting to look lost again.

Kotetsu couldn't help but wince at the sight. He had a feeling that something wasn't going to go well with the older man.

Nevertheless, Calista continued. "The Outsider got enraged because you attacked it, and so it sent out Sentinel Beast Mitra to protect itself. We had to battle it, and then it vanished and..."

"And then I started going crazy." Arganan whispered, trembling again. "I...it hurts, it hurts _dammit!"_ His hands flew up to cover his ears, holding his head tightly. "N-no, I...no..."

"Uncle?" Calista tried to reach towards him. "Please, calm down—"

 _"I-I can't—"_

And that was when he struck her in the face.

Everything seemed to freeze right there, and Calista gazed up at her uncle, who gazed at the palm of his hand, and then to her, with complete horror in his eyes. Calista shook her head, rushing out of the room.

"Calista!" Zael followed her, as Arganan just gazed at his hands, and then towards the door, deathly silent.

Kotetsu looked to Barnaby. "Can you stick with him? I'll go talk to Calista and Zael."

Barnaby nodded. "Got it."

As Kotetsu left, Arganan shook his head, looking up at Barnaby. "I...I don't know what to do..." He murmured numbly.

Barnaby couldn't help but empathize with him. He knew what it was like (the attacks, the anxiety, the growing dread as it completely overwhelmed him, to the point of losing all composure) and he knew that it was best just to stay calm right now, for the older man in front of him. "You're not dying right now." He told him calmly, making eye contact with him. "You're here in Lazulis. You're safe, Count Arganan."

Arganan looked almost surprised, before nodding slowly,leaning back against the headboard of the bed as he seemed to almost immediately pass out. Barnaby decided it was best to stick with him still, for now, until Kotetsu or Calista or someone came back to look after him.

He knew that it was probably painful for the older man. It would be bad to just leave him like this.


End file.
